[NTLUG:Discuss] Meeting idea

Sat Jun 13 20:45:28 CDT 2009

I can say that "game day" is an easy punt to pull off.  Another good
thing to do is plan a room somewhere based on headcount at a restaurant
somewhere.  Perhaps some details like cost and the like might get in the
way but I'm sure someone can decide if that may be a good idea or not.

But as far as game day is concerned, to really pull it off right,
planning is pretty important.  Things that are needed to pull it off
effectively (in no particular order) are:

1. A nice switch or set of switches.  10/100 is okay but gigabit is
nicer and as many ports in a single switch as possible is advisable...
better performance and all.

2. PLENTY of patch cables.  There are almost never enough to go around.
 Everyone should bring one, but if you have more, bring a few more.
LONG ones come in handy.

3. A device or machine to host dhcp services.  Hosting or sharing
internet services are optional.

4. An agreed-upon set of games to play.  Most games of this sort are FPS
(first person shooters) and often require some tweaking or installing to
make it work.  Getting that out of the way PRIOR to game day leave more
time for gaming.  Other games that are fun to play are the emulator
games in which you can play SNES games or the like, often using a USB
joypad or similar for a controller and even having multiple players.
(Think super mario brothers or other old time favorites)  This too
requires some setup and planning.  As for joypads, I prefer SNES
controllers with SNES to USB adapters.  They are fairly easy to get set
up under Linux and to make work with various emulators. (Check eBay for
these key devices.  They are usually QUITE inexpensive as fewer and
fewer people are interested in getting them.)

And once a set of games are agreed upon to play, someone needs to host
game servers for those games.  Game server hosts should also be the
leader/organizer for the game and should assume some responsibility for
helping others get up to speed.  And in all fairness, if you want to
host, let it be a dedicated host and not one that also plays... too much
advantage for the host of the game, even on a LAN.

Preparation and testing is paramount.  And even with all the testing and
planning, you will still run into glitches and gotchas.  For example,
two different versions of the same game!  We played OpenArena and most
people had v0.7.7 while the "ring leader" if you will had v0.8.1.  We
all ended up upgrading to his version before we could play.  No biggie,
but a delay just the same.

And not everyone has a machine to bring in that is powerful enough to
play some of the more advanced games.  "World of Padman" for example, is
an amazing free game but the processor and graphics card requirements
are pretty steep if you want to get acceptable game play.  My laptop can
barely get it running well and I have to dial down the settings to make
that happen.  Meanwhile, other games such as OpenArena and Urban Terror
work nicely on older hardware.

And the old emulators out there are great fun.  The old game ROM files
(many consider "abandonware") are out there floating aplenty.
Personally, I am a big fan of the SNES games.  They really take me back
to "better days."  Very nostalgic.  But there are other emulators out
there too.

I have come across various live gamer CDs and DVDs out there.  Those
might be a fun place to start looking for simple ways to get game
machines going if you don't want to tweak your main system too much.

Most of this all this is about planning.  Some people just like tweaking
their machines and getting help and advice and that's cool too.  Perhaps
you want to get your machine better tweaked to play some games.  By the
end of the meeting, perhaps you will better have your machine tweaked
and loaded for some nice games or will have a wish list for things to
upgrade and tweak.

Another thing about "game day" is that it distributes the burden onto
the group rather than any one speaker or organizer.  Chris could clearly
use a break every now and again so perhaps a handful of folks will be
able to pull together to make it happen.

Another fun thing about game day?  Sometimes it's just fun to hang out,
sip a soda and watch.  Nothing wrong with that either.

(2009年06月13日 19:42), Chris Cox さんは書きました:
> My talk may not happen.  My foot/ankle may still get in the way.  I
> would think that I'd be ok by then... but who knows.
> 
> So... if you (anyone) want to present, that's fine with me... by all means!
> 
> Ralph Green wrote:
>> Howdy,
>>    I had not really considered that we might not all play the same game.
>> But, there is no real need to.  I can bring a 24 port ethernet switch
>> and an extra wireless router.  People should plan on bringing their
>> computers, and a wireless nic or a ethernet cable.  That way, we know we
>> will have a LAN at least.  Chris already has a talk planned for this
>> month, so if people want to do this, we need to figure our where in the
>> schedule it will go.
>> Good day,
>> Ralph
>>
>> On Fri, 2009-06-12 at 15:27 -0700, Mike Hart wrote:
>>> Multiplayer gaming on linux is a pretty complete list, there should be something for everyone: everything from chess to 1st person shooters.  put up the infrastructure and have a whiteboard for IP's hosting games in session.
>>>
>>> I might stop being a ghost if this catches on.
>>>
>>> --- On Fri, 6/12/09, David Simmons<dave at dgnal.net>  wrote:
>>>
>>>> From: David Simmons<dave at dgnal.net>
>>>> Subject: Re: [NTLUG:Discuss] Meeting idea
>>>> To: severian at pobox.com, "NTLUG Discussion List"<discuss at ntlug.org>
>>>> Date: Friday, June 12, 2009, 4:51 PM
>>>> Sounds like a great idea....why would
>>>> you NOT do it?
>>>>
>>>> =-dave
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 1:10 PM, Ralph Green<sfreader at sbcglobal.net>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I saw a message from the Ft Worth Linux Users Group
>>>> recently that
>>>>> seemed like something we should do.  They were
>>>> going to have a game day.
>>>>> They picked a multiplayer game that ran in Linux and
>>>> played it at one
>>>>> meeting.  What do you think?  Should we try
>>>> this?
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> http://www.ntlug.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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